• Senior Latrice Phelps paced the Panthers with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting.
• Redshirt-senior Stacia Robertson posted her eighth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
• High Point will look to bounce back at Longwood on Monday at 7 p.m.
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women’s basketball team dropped a 58-41 contest to Liberty inside the Millis Center on Saturday.
The Panthers (13-8, 9-3) trailed by just two (29-27) at halftime, but shot just 14 percent in the second half against the Flames (15-6, 11-1).
“We played well in the first half and really got after it on the boards,” head coach DeUnna Hendrix said. “I’m still trying to figure out what happened in the second half. We’re still a team that is trying to put together a full 40 minutes.”
Senior Latrice Phelps led the way early with eight first-half points and finished with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting. Redshirt-senior Stacia Robertson registered her eighth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. She also tallied a team-high four blocks and three steals.
Senior Ashante Richard scored nine points while sophomore DeAnneisha Jackson led the reserves with eight points and eight rebounds.
HPU shot a season-low 21 percent (10-of-48) and was 0-of-11 from beyond the arc. The HPU defense proved stout on the other end, as Liberty hit just 37 percent (22-of-59) of its attempts and made a paltry 15 percent (2-of-13) from beyond the arc. The Panthers earned an advantage at the free throw line hitting 72 percent (21-of-29) of its attempts.
“I think when we defend and get in transition it helps us and we didn’t do that this afternoon,” Hendrix said. “When we don’t defend and get on the boards we don’t get those uncontested shots.”
The Flames started out hot on both ends of the floor going 5-of-6 from the field and 5-of-5 from the line in the first six minutes. On the other end, they held the Purple & White to just 2-of-6 shooting and forced seven turnovers (15-7, 13:51).
The Panthers limited Liberty to 1-of-10 shooting over the next six minutes, but could only cut the deficit to 17-11 with 7:48 until half. A 5-1 spurt allowed the Flames to stretch their lead out to 22-12 with six minutes left in the half.
A huge block from Robertson turned momentum and sparked a 7-0 run, capped by a 3-point play by Jackson to cut the deficit to three at 22-19 with 5:00 remaining.
Later, Phelps cut the Liberty lead to one at 24-23 with a jumper from the right wing at the 3:05 mark of the first half. But the Flames were able to go back up by four when Karly Buer hit a jumper in the closing seconds of the half to make it 29-25. However, Ashante Richard was fouled on the inbounds pass and knocked down two free throws with one second left to send the Panthers to the break down two at 29-27.
Liberty held HPU without a basket for the first five minutes of the second stanza and went on a 10-0 run to build a 39-27 lead (15:04). Robertson halted the run with a 3-point play at the 14:47 mark (39-30). The visitors scored the next four points before a jumper by Richard and a 3-point play by Phelps cut the lead to eight (43-35, 10:37).
HPU couldn’t continue its run and never got any closer as Liberty went on a 15-6 extended run to close out the game and earn a 58-41 victory. The loss ended the Panthers’ 15-game home winning streak that dated back to Jan. 11, 2014.
The Purple & White will hit the road next week for games at Longwood (Monday, Feb. 2) and Presbyterian (Thursday, Feb. 5) before wrapping up the week with a home game against Charleston Southern (Saturday, Feb. 7).